Councillor Robinson - December 2018

[Malcolm Robinson]

December 2018.

 

First up was a site visit to Widdrington to look at the site of a potential Caravan park.  I got there early because I wanted to look at all the access roads.  The main one from the village is pretty new and pretty good but the other way it’s more or less a single track road passing over railway lines with unmanned level crossings.  This would be totally unsuitable for a sizeable increase in traffic in my view so that’s one question to ask later!  It is a nice site and perfect for a caravan park with some provisos.  A major one being the ecology report and possible mitigation measures.  While the planning officer gave us the presentation I asked about the Blue Sky Forest project and if this had been included in that site.  I really wanted to know if this land had been identified for this sort of development for years or was this application something new.  Seems not many people, other than the Widdrington residents who were there as observers only, knew the answer.  Turned out it was one of the areas earmarked for development in the Blue Sky Forest project, in fact it was the area designated for a nature reserve.

Tonight we had the strategic planning meeting with several old applications having to come back because of the new NPPF guidance off central government.  First off I objected to the minutes of the last meeting which said there had been no objectors to the new 500 houses in Bedlington.  I reminded the chair and officers there had actually been 2 objectors, one of which was me!  After a bit of fluster I was told it was only a slip of the pen and would be  amended forthwith.

First up was the Widdrington application.  This took nearly 2 hours to get through.  We were given the presentation by the officer then objectors spoke, then supports/developer spoke then members got to ask questions of the officers.  After they were over we get to debate the motion once it has been proposed and seconded.  I had heard several concerns the local parish council had mentioned and one in particular resonated with me seeing as I chaired our local Town Council for two years and served as a member for four.  I reiterated their concerns about things like a possible litter problem which would ultimately be costly for the parish council and I specifically asked what measures were in hand to make sure this private  commercial development didn’t impact onto the parish unproportionately.  Given there were only 80 odd households in this parish that was understandably something of a worry.  The officer replied saying some of the s106 funding was for coastline mitigation and part of that would be wardens or rangers who would be able to keep paths clear and help oversee things like litter bin emptying.  I also mentioned the road to the west especially if this was the route from our main arterial road, the A1.   I said I welcomed the North East Mainline Train  holding objection until they assessed  any impacts onto their level crossings.  So we have to wait until they get back with their assessment.  Didn’t stop the application going through with only one member objecting because of his concerns regarding the lakes on the site.   Given that we have policies espousing the virtues of tourist potential I don’t think we had much choice.

The rest of the applications were actually ones coming back because of the new NPPF guidance.  As there was one about a 500 house development I couldn’t help but compare the agreed S106 funding with the one Bedlington got.  Sizeable differences but given that this one was only one part of about 900 for Amble I could see some reasoning.  Didn’t stop me questioning the agreed funding!  In fact once again I had to insist on getting the answers to my questions and using them to inform other members that even though we think we are getting a good deal, things like the health contributions don’t actually put one extra doctor or nurse into the practices because it’s capital only funding.  I said this actually does nothing about waiting times to see the likes of health professionals or even help parents get their children into their local school of choice.  The interim head of planning told me they tried to get the best deals they could within the regulations and I replied I understood that and this time I didn’t blame them or even the developer but I did want to question the health authority and education authority about the way they assessed need and where and how  this money got spent!  Few slack jaws there with that volley and I don’t think this has ever been questioned before.  We think we are doing the right thing yet know nothing about the system after our input.  I also had words about another application up in Amble.  This one came to us earlier in the year and members asked about a relief road as part of the development.  It was mentioned not just by the developer but planning officers as well that a road would means there would be no suit of other S106 funding, it would effectively wipe them out.  Members stepped away at that point but given that the local member had requested this road I asked if we were being presented with a deal for community benefit who was to say what the community really wanted?  The planners insisted on the funding package as presented so I asked when had they last spoken to this community to get their view, isn’t that the job of the local member and he was asking for this road.  That seems to really throw the cat amongst the pigeons again but I said it seems we were being asked to decide on which side of the deal to come down on.  Seems we weren’t and any trade-off was imaginary.  I think I was on planet Planning at that point!

I would suggest no one play poker with anyone in our planning department because whenever I have four of a kind they pull out a royal flush.  This is getting frustrating having them pull trump cards  out of thin air all the time and the whole thing looks to be smoke and mirrors with the rules written on the back of fag packets!

The next meeting I had to attend was listed as pension training but actually it was to hear a presentation from our new pension management officers.  This because we are now in a partnership called Boarder to Coast with another 12 authorities and public sector pension providers.  The officers from Leeds gave us a run-down on where we are with the new host body and then the head of strategic investments gave us his input.  I did have several questions for him and one in particular seemed not to be answered even after asking it again.  It was about the investment strategy and in particular the sub divisions.  I was keen to know if they would be taken up whatever the market did even if that meant buying into a loss making position.  Still didn’t get my question answered and in our discussions later, after these officers left, other members of the panel agreed it was a pretty fundamental question.  I also asked about the strategy I had suggested several months ago about protecting our level of pension liability coverage.  We currently enjoy a 100% coverage for the first time ever but my warnings about market corrections seem to be coming true.  I’m pretty sure we don’t enjoy that amount of coverage now because of our passive engagement in stocks and shares.  It should come back of course but I really did want them to protect our gains because we would be in a buying position given market viotility instead of sucking our thumbs waiting to see the effects.  Chance lost I fear.  I had a quick exam and assessment to do as part of this panel then it was off back home for the Town Council Meeting.

I had a meeting with our head of Estates and the green spaces officer about a couple of projects I’m working on in my ward.  I also had to raise concerns others had made to me about their relationship with our estates office.  Affable meeting with no real objections raised to my suggestions so onwards and upwards!

When I got back to Bedlington I had time for a quick cuppa then back out for a meeting with the police, this along with Russ and Bill.  We discussed quite a few issues and I listed just about all the concerns my residents had contacted me about over the last couple of months.  I think we all felt each of us got something out of this meeting and now others have been arranged.    The police are well aware of what residents are concerned about these days.

 

I had been asking for a meeting with the leadership of NCC for some time and after many cancelled attempts I finally got into the Leaders office along with the cabinet member I had specifically asked to attend.  This was all about trying to get more investment into Bedlington, give it a renewed focus to address its fast approaching dormitory Town status and especially my ward and the suggestions I made were listened to and acknowledged.  In fact I have to work them up into firm costed proposals now so lots of work to do in the New Year.

 

I got up to county hall in good time for my next meeting which was economic and corporate scrutiny.  One of the main bones of contention for this meeting was the proposed reduction in relief for council tax claimants of working age, to go from the 100% currently enjoyed to 92%.  This was the same meeting I had previously reported on because I was told I was taking the bread out of the bairns mouths by asking for as much information as possible before proceeding to a recommendation?   The consultation had been carried out and we now had the results.  These were contained in a large publication which has been available in the members lounge for some time and something I had taken the time to read through.

I have mentioned previously about me asking people for their thoughts on this potential reduction to benefit.  In fact the NCC consulting’s got about 500 responses, I have asked probably nearly 100 people myself.  Of all the people I asked I can now report that just one person was absolutely against the idea and I asked people in all council tax bands, people working in this arena and even benefit claimants themselves.  So I did have a clear mandate to back to proposal however there are some salient pieces of information most people will not be privy to, such as the introduction of Universal Credit and its likely effects.  I also consider the fact that with 80 odd percent of micro businesses making up the business landscape in this county and with small retailers being a large part of that, the recent downturn in high street retail with some pretty large players going to the wall means that employees within that sphere, not usually the best paid, could well be facing a bleak time, was something I had to consider as well.

Like everyone else on the committee I spoke to prior to the meeting we all expected a large presence in the public gallery for this one and again histrionics from certain members.  I was astounded when only one single Labour member turned up and he is on the committee.  The other two submitted apologies even though at the discussion stage they shouted about this, now when the decision was to be made their votes were missing?  None in the public gallery either which again shocked me as everyone had expected heckling.

Back to the meeting and after the usual agenda item we came to this benefit cut.  The Labour member sitting next to me asked about the consultation and both the cabinet member and the appropriate officer gave him the run-down on how it was conducted.  I said nothing because I knew I had it posted on my blog and asked residents to complete it, if all 67 members had done the same I’m sure there would have been a lot more than 500 replies!  Anyway the chair asked if we had any more questions and with none forthcoming from other members I said I had several.  I first asked how confident we were in the numbers and the immediate response was about the consultation numbers.  I said I was not on about those rather the financial numbers given that all the way through we had been told about 12,000 people would be affected, just now that figure seems to have been revised up to 15,000.   How confident are we in the number of people affected and the financial savings mentioned in the report?  Seems there was a bit of averaging done to arrive at these figures but NCC was the only authority along with Durham which gave 100% rebate and even after the change if it goes through we will still be the second most generous in the North East.  I said it looked like that was being used as an excuse for bringing in this cut and I wasn’t bothered about anywhere else, I wanted the best for our residents, that was my only concern as it should be for the rest of us!  I said I considered this proposal too much of a blunt instrument and we should really celebrate the fact that we give this level of help to people needing it.

I went on and said I wanted members to consider two proposals, one to guarantee the 100% rebate for the first year of unemployment because that’s when help is really needed and secondly defer the introduction until we see how Universal Credit has bedded in.  The Labour member sitting next to me immediately seconded my proposals but the cabinet member said how that would negatively impact onto the budget.  I reminded everyone I had asked members of the committee to consider what I said to which the secretary gave a rather curt reply saying all comments would be taken to cabinet for their consideration.  I kept my powder dry until the chair called for a vote but that never came.  I do know cabinet considered my proposals but decided to put the reduction through without change straight-away.

We had our usual Local Area Council meeting at Seaton Sluice this time and there was really only one planning item on the agenda.  This was a revision to a condition we had laid down on this application previously when it came before us.  Speakers for and against spoke as well as the planning officer.  Storm in a teacup really because it was all about disguising a metal storage container so it blended into the setting better.   One of the members spoke against it saying she could hear the noise when she was at church and it looked unsightly.  I said she must have supersonic sight and hearing because I had been to the site visit, only the Bedlington lads and the chair attended, and the container wasn’t visible from the road and it was actually 200 metres away from other buildings as well as a wall and a wood all directly in the way of the church the member said she was inside of but could hear saddles being lifted out of mountings inside this container.  Another member said there was actually churches in the middle of our largest cities right alongside major roads and that this was a complete red herring.  The applicant got his change of condition.

I did have to raise something else at the final agenda item of any other business.  I said we were told these committees would bring decision making closer to residents and would have things like economic budgets attached.   If that is the case I can’t recall any meeting where that has happened or did the administration really just meet local contested planning applications?  The chair informed me that this wasn’t the right time to bring this up but another member said he actually backed everything I had said.  So I look forward to an answer at our next meeting.

So that’s about it for 2018 and I wish all residents the very best for the New Year.

 

Kenavo 2018 and Salud 2019.